Contour gauges



Aug. 2l, 1956 H. M. voN DUYKE CONTOUR GAUGES Filed 0G12. 20, 1954 United States Patent O CONTOUR GAUGES Harrison M. Von Duyke, Wilmington, Del., assignor to Modern Products Manufacturing Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application October 20, 1954, Serial No. 463,382

Claims. (Cl. 33-175) This invention relates to contour gauges, and it relates more particularly to a gauge of the type having a plurality of wires or rods slidably arranged side by side, under frictional restraint, in a suitable holder whereby, when the device is pressed against a molding, or any other object of a more or less irregular form, a profile of the same will be obtained for the purpose of tting other parts or objects thereto, or for other purposes.

Heretofore, contour or profile gauges have been provided which, however, when so constructed as to be reasonably efficient, were expensive to make, and were more or less complicated in their construction and arrangement, and in their manner of use.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a contour gauge of the character aforesaid, which may be inexpensively constructed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a contour gauge of the character aforesaid, which may be readily and easily manipulated for its intended purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide a contour gauge of the character aforesaid, which will be simple in its construction yet eiicient in its action.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a face view of a contour gauge embodying the main features of the present invention, the same being shown applied to a portion of a baseboard and molding for the purpose of transferring the profile thereof to other parts which are to be fitted thereto;

Fig. 2 is a central transverse section thereof;

Fig. 3 is a View, partly in side elevation, and partly in section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, enlarged;

Fig, 4 is a perspective view of certain of the parts in the process of assembly; and

Fig. 5 is a similar view of said parts after they have been assembled and secured to each other.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawing herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes may be made in the structure shown without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, in the particular embodiment of the invention therein shown, the device consists essentially of a plurality of relatively stiff wires or rods 5 of uniform length, each preferably circular in crosssection, which are held side by side in a common plane by a suitable holder comprising metallic bars 6 and 7 between which the wires or rods 5 are disposed.

The rods or wires 5 bear against the inner face of the holder bar 6, but between the inner face of the holder bar 7 and the rods or wires 5 there is mounted a strip 8 of felt or the like, one face of which is preferably secured, by a suitable adhesive 9, to the inner face of the holder bar 7. The wires or rods 5 bear against the other face of said strip of felt.

At the ends of the holder, the bars 6 and 7 are se- ICC cured to each other by means of clips 10, made and formed from sheet metal, with the side marginal portions thereof bent over at an acute angle, to provide side lips 11 which engage the ends of the bars 6 and 7. The ends of the bars 6 and 7 are recessed transversely to provide end lugs 12 of dovetail shape, which are engaged by the lips 11. The clip members 10 are also each provided, at each end, with lips 13, which are bent over and positioned in recesses 14 at the ends of the dovetail lugs 12.

In the assembling of the device, the rods or wires 5 and the felt layer 8 are disposed between the holder bars 6 and 7, which are then held together by a suitable clamping jig (not shown) and while so held, a clip 10 is slid, at each end, transversely across the dovetail ends of the bars 6 and 7 until it reaches the operative position, after which the lips 13 are bent down to the positions as illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing to hold the clip 1t) against sidewise movement.

It will be seen that by the foregoing arrangement there is provided a simple yet etcient form of contour gauge which may be inexpensively made, but which is so constructed and arranged as to permit an indication of the profile of any desired object to be instantly obtained by the mere pressing of the device against the said object.

It may also be noted that by the foregoing arrangement the rods or wires used for obtaining the contour which are located at the respective ends of the holder may be brought closer to the tloor, wall, or other obstruction at the end of the holder, when obtaining a contour indication, than is possible in the use of the contour gauges at present in use.

I claim:

1. A contour gauge comprising a plurality of rods of uniform lengths slidably mounted side by side in a holder, said holder comprising a pair of metallic bars between which said rods are disposed, said rods bearing against the inner face of one of said holder bars, a strip of felt like material mounted on the inner face of the other holder bar against which strip the rods are frictionally held against undesired longitudinal movement, and clips for securing the holder bars to each other at the ends, said clips being formed of relatively thin sheet metal and having side lips positioned in transverse grooves in the ends of said bar members, and the rods at each end of the bar members being immediately adjacent the inner surfaces of said clips.

2. A contour gauge comprising a plurality of rods of uniform lengths slidably mounted side by side in a holder, said holder comprising a pair of metallic bars between which said rods are disposed, said rods bearing against the inner face of one of said holder bars, a strip of felt like material mounted on the inner face of the other holder bar against which strip the rods are frictionally held against undesired longitudinal movement, and clips for securing the holder bars to each other at the ends, said clips being formed of relatively thin sheet metal and having side lips positioned in transverse grooves in the ends of said bar members, and means for preventing sidewise movement of said clips on the ends of the bars, the rods at each end of the bar members being immediately adjacent the inner surfaces of the clips.

3. A contour gauge comprising a plurality of rods of uniform lengths slidably mounted side by side in a holder, said holder comprising a pair of metallic bars between which said rods are disposed, said rods bearing against the inner face of one of said holder bars, a strip of felt like material mounted on the inner face of the other holder bar against which strip the rods are frictionally held against undesired longitudinal movement, and clips for securing the holder bars to each other at the ends, said clips being formed of relatively thin sheet metal and having side lips positioned in transverse grooves inthe ends of said bar members, and the ends of said clips being bent over at the ends of the bars, the rods at each end of the bar members being immediately adjacent the inner surfaces of the clips.

4,. A contour gauge comprising a plurality of rods of uniform length slidably mounted side by side in a holder, said holder comprising a pair of metallic bars between which said rods'are disposed, said, rods, bearing against the inner face of one of said holder bars, a strip of` felt like material mounted on the inner face of the other holder bar against which strip the rods are frictionally held against undesired longitudinal movement, and clips for securing the holder bars to each other at the ends, said clips being formed of relatively thin sheet metal and having side lips engaging dovetail ends of said bar members, and the rods at each end of the bar members being immediately adjacent the inner surfaces of the clips.

5. A Vcontour gauge comprising a plurality of rods of uniform length slidably mounted side by side in a holder, said holder comprising a pair of metallic bars between which said rods are disposed, said rods bearing against the inner face of one of said holder bars,l a strip of felt like material mounted on the inner face of the other holder bar against which strip the rods are frictionally held against undesired longitudinal movement, and clips for securing the holder bars to each other at the ends, said clips being formed of relatively thin sheet metal and having side lips engaging dovetail ends of said bar members, and the ends of said clips being bent over at the ends of the bars, the rods at each end of the bar members being immediately adjacent the inner surfaces of the clips, and the bent over ends of the clips being bifurcated to permit the rods at the ends to pass therethrough.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 234,323 Noyes Nov. 9, 1880 241,24l Ruge V- May 10, 1881 430,331 Ballard June 17, 1890 2,611,530 Georgev n Sept. 2 3, 1952 

